Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

[And-Con]

Ok we have a 50 hp diesel kubota as the main engine in a 40 foot sloop. While we were out, she was losing coolant/overheating. The area around the water heater(remote from the engine) smelled like antifreeze so we hobbled home and called the mechanic, who bypassed the water heater. We took her out again and she still overheated, so ditched the mechanic, pulled the impeller, only 1 of 12 vanes left, pulled and cleaned heat exchanger, replaced. Great, the overheat solved. Now i would like to reinstall the water heater, but i don't know where it gets plumbed, i believe it was initially between the thermostat and the heat exchanger, but i don't know, i didn't bypass it. Just for clarification, this is the fresh water coolant loop on a raw water>heat exchanger>freshwater cooling system. Thanks for any answers

 

[Don S]

Re: Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

Just for clarification, this is the fresh water coolant loop on a raw water>heat exchanger>freshwater cooling system.

SAY WHAT ?????? That is about as clear as MUD.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

So you have a closed loop on the engine which is cooled by lake water (via shell and tube) which rejects the heated lake water back through the potable water heater exchanger and finally back into the lake?
If this is correct than if your getting antifreeze smell near the watertank there must be a breech in the tube side exchanger at the engine, need to perform a pressure isolation test of some sort, plus the fact your loosing coolant fortifies my hunch.

 

[And-Con]

Re: Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

sorry, ill try to explain to the best of my knowledge. We took her out, she overheated, the area around the water heater did faintly smell of antifreeze, but to be quite honest, the water heater is just inches(design flaw) above the bilge, and it smells like more than a few things down there. So we called the mechanic, he disconnected the water heater, saying they are notorious for causing problems-news to me. So we took it out, she still overheated. So i pulled the raw water-coolant heat exchanger, got it serviced, and changed the impeller, which the mechanic had not service(also ditched the mechanic). She no longer overheats, and i would like to replumb the water heater into the system, since i have little reason to believe that there is anything wrong with it. I just don't know where in the loop it gets hooked, or if it even matters, also the engine is closed loop cooled, with 2 heat exchangers in the loop, the coolant-potable water and the coolant-raw water. i would assume the heat exchanger goes somewhere between the block and the raw water heat exchanger, but how much does it really matter where in the loop it lies? But by the same token, im not entirely sure that a70eliminator wasn't correct about the water heater working off of raw water. Basically my problem boils down to where does the potable water heater get plumbed into a coolant system. Thank you for the input, sorry my obfuscating a simple question, i was trying to clarify as much as possible, but missed the point i guess

 

[Bondo]

Re: Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

Ayuh,... I gotcha,...
While I don't know Exactly the lay-out of your Kubota, it should be similar to other powerplants...
For a water heater, or cabin heat, the Hot water comes from either a port in the head, or the T-stat housing to the applicence...
Return water is usually ported back into the system at/into the circulating waterpump....
In your case, it may be ported into the heat exchanger, but I've never seen it done that way...

Btw,.... When posting here,... Hit the "Enter" button now,+ then....
The post above this(#4) is danm near Impossible to read for these old eyes, without some paragraphs to break it up abit...

 

[WizeOne]

Re: Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

.......The post above this(#4) is danm near Impossible to read for these old eyes, without some paragraphs to break it up abit...

Is it really the old Eyes or the ...er, ah...the OLD MIND?

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

I don't think it matters much which hose went where as long as you get flow through it, raw water heated or heated from engine cooling system either way flow is key, unless there's a directional flow valve for balance it more than likely wouldn't matter a bit which was in or out.

 

[And-Con]

Re: Engine heat fresh water heater plumbing

aight thanks for the heads up, i didn't think it would matter but i figured i would check in first.